NBA Best Bets Today: November 9 Picks & Predictions
We are set with eight NBA games on Monday night, and four teams are on the second night of a back-to-back. The Lakers vs Hawks tip at 7:00 pm ET is one to watch, with Luka Doncic expected back after sitting Sunday's win in Detroit, and Spurs vs Suns at 9:00 pm ET gives us a Phoenix team with no rim protection against Wemby five days after he hung 52 on Dallas. My NBA game previews are 16-8 this season, and I'm looking to keep it going as we enter week four.
I've been through all eight games and landed on three NBA Best Bets for Monday, a side and two player props. As always, we have you covered with NBA Picks for every game, but for now let's get to my top selections.
NBA Best Bet: Toronto Raptors -2.5 over Memphis Grizzlies (-113)
The Grizzlies have lost three straight after starting the season 6-0. Memphis takes 40 threes a game, 11th in the league, and shot just 22 of 89 from deep over their last two games. Worth noting, four of their six wins were over Utah twice and Sacramento twice.
Toronto comes in with two full days of rest to open a two-game homestand after a 2-2 road trip out west. After missing Friday's win over the Bucks, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley both practiced on Sunday and are trending toward a return Monday night. The Raptors handled Milwaukee by 14 without either of them, with Jamal Shead handing out 16 assists and Jakob Poeltl back in the lineup for 19 and 11. Toronto won both meetings last season, by 13 at home and 32 in Memphis. With Barnes and Quickley back, I like the Raptors to cover at home.
Read our full Grizzlies vs Raptors Predictions
NBA Best Bet: Victor Wembanyama (SA) over 27.5 Points (-106)
After an 0-2 start to the season, the Spurs are rolling. They continue their four-game road trip in Phoenix, coming in on a league-high eight-game winning streak. Wemby is averaging 29.1 points through ten games and has cleared this number in five of his last six. The one miss was in their 22-point blowout of Utah. The highs keep getting higher: 52 points against Dallas on Wednesday, then 30 and 29 on the weekend back-to-back in Sacramento and Portland in 26 and 24 minutes.
Phoenix's roster has no answer for Wemby at center. Mark Williams remains out following shoulder surgery, which leaves Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro. Portland's Donovan Clingan went for 24 and 11 against that pair last week. Tobias Harris has yet to play for San Antonio and Devin Vassell is questionable, so the offense is firmly running through Wemby. The Spurs are 8-2 and favored by more than eight, so the risk is limited minutes in a lopsided game, but he has been getting there in 25 minutes anyway. I like Wemby to keep pouring it in and clear 28.
NBA Best Bet: Luka Doncic (LAL) over 34.5 Points (+106)
Luka Doncic is the runaway MVP of the way-too-early awards, and his numbers are absurd. He leads the league at 40.1 points a game, nearly nine more than the greatest shooter of all time, Steph Curry, at 31.2. In his last seven games, he's scored 52, 41, 37, 45, 42, 40 and 53, four straight 40-point games with every defense he sees doing anything to get the ball out of his hands. He has not scored fewer than 37 since the second game of the season.
His injury designation is the only question. Doncic sat Sunday in Detroit with lower-back tightness, and he is expected to play in Atlanta on Monday. The Hawks allow 117 a night over their last five, gave up 132 to Washington on Friday, and this is the team that drafted him #3 overall in 2018 and traded him to Dallas the same night. He will not need reminding. Give me Luka over 34.5.
